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litwithleigh's review
3.0
Thank you Europe Editions for the ARC. IYKYK, my reviews are ALWAYS honest.
Writing: sparse prose | Plot: great premise | Ending: last 30% went off the rails
SYNOPSIS
An exploration of the devastating costs of social media fame.
MY OPINION
First things first, THIS IS NOT A MYSTERY OR A THRILLER. Don't let the synopsis or NetGalley fool you. Yes, the bare bones of the plot is Clara, a young 'detective' of sorts, is investigating the disappearance of Kimmy, a famous child YouTuber who is managed by her clout-chasing mother, Melanie. But this isn't your typical police procedural wherein you're bagging forensic evidence and running tox screens.This is more of a social commentary on how lost in the sauce people get trying to be famous on Al Gore's internet, and how messed up it is when adults pimp out their children for clout.
I absolutely loved Delphine de Vigan's The Loyalties, but this is a totally different vibe. The prose is very minimalistic and there's little world-building or dialogue. If you don't enjoy being inside the characters' heads, skip this one. It's inner monologue after inner monologue, with some 'interviews' thrown in here and there. Also, if you need someone to cheer for, you won't find it here.
I enjoyed the commentary about the addiction of fame and how people will do anything, even put their children at danger, for a lil notoriety. But was it groundbreaking? No. Profound? Not exactly. But it's an important discussion and a worthwhile read if you're not chronically online. I thought the parts about introducing laws to protect the rights of children and ensure they get their cut financially were interesting and necessary. I think it would spark some great book club debates.
Everything was alright until the last 30%. I would've given this four stars just for kicks but that last third felt like a second book penned by John Marrs that was tacked on the end. Maybe it was done to lend credence to the book being slotted as a mystery/thriller? Idk. But... one star because wtf?? There was way too much crammed into the end and it drifted into "OK BOOMER" territory. Not Clara, a law enforcement officer who has directly benefited from technological advancements, moaning on and on about how she wished she could go back to pre-Internet times. Girl no one is forcing you to be on Instagram.
Anyways. This was a bit of a letdown for me, but I do recommend it to older readers who are not chronically online. Highly recommend you tackle it with a pal, or a couple of pals, so you can rant and debate amongst each other.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: interesting concept, great look into the consequences of being a child social media star and how whackadoodle the parents are, more showing than telling (until the last 30%)
Cons: last 30% should've been kept in the drafts; felt very preachy also the pace went 0-100 and not in a good way. tbh if you told me John Marrs ghost-wrote (lol?) that last third I wouldn't be shocked
___
Check out my YouTube and my TikTok
Writing: sparse prose | Plot: great premise | Ending: last 30% went off the rails
SYNOPSIS
An exploration of the devastating costs of social media fame.
MY OPINION
First things first, THIS IS NOT A MYSTERY OR A THRILLER. Don't let the synopsis or NetGalley fool you. Yes, the bare bones of the plot is Clara, a young 'detective' of sorts, is investigating the disappearance of Kimmy, a famous child YouTuber who is managed by her clout-chasing mother, Melanie. But this isn't your typical police procedural wherein you're bagging forensic evidence and running tox screens.This is more of a social commentary on how lost in the sauce people get trying to be famous on Al Gore's internet, and how messed up it is when adults pimp out their children for clout.
I absolutely loved Delphine de Vigan's The Loyalties, but this is a totally different vibe. The prose is very minimalistic and there's little world-building or dialogue. If you don't enjoy being inside the characters' heads, skip this one. It's inner monologue after inner monologue, with some 'interviews' thrown in here and there. Also, if you need someone to cheer for, you won't find it here.
I enjoyed the commentary about the addiction of fame and how people will do anything, even put their children at danger, for a lil notoriety. But was it groundbreaking? No. Profound? Not exactly. But it's an important discussion and a worthwhile read if you're not chronically online. I thought the parts about introducing laws to protect the rights of children and ensure they get their cut financially were interesting and necessary. I think it would spark some great book club debates.
Everything was alright until the last 30%. I would've given this four stars just for kicks but that last third felt like a second book penned by John Marrs that was tacked on the end. Maybe it was done to lend credence to the book being slotted as a mystery/thriller? Idk. But... one star because wtf?? There was way too much crammed into the end and it drifted into "OK BOOMER" territory. Not Clara, a law enforcement officer who has directly benefited from technological advancements, moaning on and on about how she wished she could go back to pre-Internet times. Girl no one is forcing you to be on Instagram.
Anyways. This was a bit of a letdown for me, but I do recommend it to older readers who are not chronically online. Highly recommend you tackle it with a pal, or a couple of pals, so you can rant and debate amongst each other.
PROS AND CONS
Pros: interesting concept, great look into the consequences of being a child social media star and how whackadoodle the parents are, more showing than telling (until the last 30%)
Cons: last 30% should've been kept in the drafts; felt very preachy also the pace went 0-100 and not in a good way. tbh if you told me John Marrs ghost-wrote (lol?) that last third I wouldn't be shocked
___
Check out my YouTube and my TikTok
unhinged_female_protagonist's review
3.0
3.5 stars. I liked the interesting social commentary that is KIDS RUN THE SHOW. It’s an imagining one how social media is going to affect society long term - especially children who grow up in the spotlight of their parents Instagram and YouTube accounts. The book ends in the year 2031 and the imagined future looks bleak, yet feels very, very real.
amavia91's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
paperbacks_and_priyam's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
magnapresa's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Pedophilia and Bullying
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
buddenbrooks_97's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
veronicapex's review against another edition
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
louisenb's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
mikkareads's review
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Reader, this is not a near-future cautionary tale. It's today's reality, snippets of a society where support networks become increasingly intermeshed with social media. Family vloggers, 'kidfluencers', parents who are forever toeing the line between sharing and exploitation? It's real, it's here. And it's becoming hard to differentiate: Is this parent just blinded by clout, oblivious of the harm this might do their children? Or is it deliberate; do they see it as an acceptable payment for fame and monetary gain?
Delphine de Vigan gives us Mélanie, a social media superstar who shares her children's lives online. It's daily, it's always, it's everywhere. There is no privacy for her son and daughter, no free time, no toys that do not come with sponsorships and fake bright smiles for the algorithm. The daughter, Kimmy, shouts into the void: «No, I do not want to film today. No, I do not like this.»
When Kimmy is abducted, is Mélanie at fault? And if so, to what degree? Clara, a young police officer, might as well be from another planet, so alien is this social media world to her. Yet, when the lives of these two woman intertwine, it highlights that they are ultimately driven by the same childhood trauma: Never being enough, never truly belonging – looking for the same fulfillment in different ways.
«Kids Run The Show» is many things: an insightful reflection on the voyeuristic nature of social media, an exploration of its false sense of community, fueled by the immense emotional void of modern society… It's a captivating read – but it's not a thriller, nor a police procedural. Kimmy's disappearence is not the focus of the story, it just highlights her exploitation and her mother's deeply flawed emotional landscape.
And this is exactly where I see the novel's shortcomings: This kind of story needs strong, complex protagonists to make it more than a morality tale. But ultimately, their personal development falls short, reduced to a blueprint of what's wrong with social media; there is little resonance on a more personal level.
In the end, this was an interesting read for me, but one that did not fulfill its potential.
Delphine de Vigan gives us Mélanie, a social media superstar who shares her children's lives online. It's daily, it's always, it's everywhere. There is no privacy for her son and daughter, no free time, no toys that do not come with sponsorships and fake bright smiles for the algorithm. The daughter, Kimmy, shouts into the void: «No, I do not want to film today. No, I do not like this.»
When Kimmy is abducted, is Mélanie at fault? And if so, to what degree? Clara, a young police officer, might as well be from another planet, so alien is this social media world to her. Yet, when the lives of these two woman intertwine, it highlights that they are ultimately driven by the same childhood trauma: Never being enough, never truly belonging – looking for the same fulfillment in different ways.
«Kids Run The Show» is many things: an insightful reflection on the voyeuristic nature of social media, an exploration of its false sense of community, fueled by the immense emotional void of modern society… It's a captivating read – but it's not a thriller, nor a police procedural. Kimmy's disappearence is not the focus of the story, it just highlights her exploitation and her mother's deeply flawed emotional landscape.
And this is exactly where I see the novel's shortcomings: This kind of story needs strong, complex protagonists to make it more than a morality tale. But ultimately, their personal development falls short, reduced to a blueprint of what's wrong with social media; there is little resonance on a more personal level.
In the end, this was an interesting read for me, but one that did not fulfill its potential.